EXCELLENT LEADERSHIP IN CHRIST

 LEADERSHIP IN CHRIST

 




Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as known by Christianity. He lived in ancient Israel in the first century and is known by many as the Son of God. Christians believe that Christ was crucified on the cross for all of mankind’s sins; that he died, was buried and was resurrected.

A Quick History

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According to History and the Synoptic Gospels Jesus Christ was born around 4 BC in Israel. It would be a turbulent time as Herod would come to know about a new ‘King of the Jews’ and order a slaughter of all the newborns.
Jesus managed to escape to Egypt with his parents from the carnage back in Bethlehem. He eventually returned to his home country Israel at a young age.
His ministry began in Nazareth at 30 years old where he would perform many healings, miracles and even resurrection of the dead. However, he was deemed by the religious leaders of the day to be a blasphemer and they constantly plotted against him.
Eventually they managed to get one of his disciples Judas to betray Jesus by bribing him. Jesus was arrested, crucified and was buried.
However, he miraculously rose again on the third day; and before he ascended into heaven, he tasked his disciples to bring the good news of the gospel to the ends of the world.

Jesus Christ
Leadership Lessons

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Jesus Christ is the most powerful leader of all time; no matter what you believe about him, it is most amazing to see that even after 2,000 years after he lived, the message he tasked his disciples to preach to the world is still happening today.
Great conquerors like Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, Genghis Khan have rose but have now fallen, but 2,000 years after Jesus Christ came to establish his kingdom, it still exists and thrives today all over the world.
There are countless leadership lessons we can learn from him, but here are a few:
1.Lead by example
Jesus always led by example in everything that he told his disciples to do. Whatever he expected them to do; he always showed them how to do it first. He would perform healings and miracles and eventually we would see the disciples doing the same thing.
The best way you can lead is by example. In today’s world, many leaders expect their subordinates to perform tasks which they themselves are incapable of doing. This destroys their credibility and causes them to lose the respect from their followers.
Before you expect your team to keep a standard, ensure that you’re keeping it yourself first.
2.Have faith
Jesus had great faith and with that faith, he managed to perform all his healings and miracles. On a several occasions, he credits the healings to the recipient’s faith.
This illustrates to us the power of what faith in your life can do. Having a spirit of expectancy sets you up for greater things ahead; and not only that, you lift up the spirits of your team members as well.
No matter what’s going through in your organization, your faith will aid you in overcoming it, as well as have your team put their trust in you as well.
There are many more lessons you can learn from the greatest leader of all time; you have to pick up books yourself and read about him: there’s simply too many books written about him that you probably can’t finish it in your lifetime!

The gospel of Mark begins by telling the reader about 9 characteristics of Jesus as a leader.  When you read the first chapter of Mark there are some distinctive traits of Christ that every team leader can learn from!
There can be no doubt or question that Jesus Christ was the greatest of  all leaders known to man.  The biblical truths of his teachings and the pattern of his leadership are valuable to any leader.

Here are 9 characteristics of Jesus as a leader:
1.   Jesus was not self-promoting. ( Mark 1:11)
2.  Jesus was obedient to the Holy Spirit. ( Mark 1:12-13))
3.  Jesus cast a vision, with clarity, simplicity, and directness. ( Mark 1:15)
4.  Jesus was a strategic team builder.( Mark 1:17)
5.  Jesus was a relationship builder.( Mark 1:19)
6.  Jesus expressed control and authority as a leader, when needed.( Mark 1:23-25)
7.  Jesus engaged crisis head-on. ( Mark 1:30-31)
8.  Jesus practiced daily prayer.( Mark 1:35)
9.  Jesus was all about empowering others. ( Mark 1:41-45)
These nine behaviors of Jesus were a strong sign of what he thought was important in leadership.  These same points can enable any leader to achieve strong team development.  The example of Christ is a powerful lesson for anyone in leadership.

Since the autumn of 2011 the concept of leadership has definitely been in view.  The “Arab Spring” and its ongoing fallout has brought into focus failing and abusive forms of leadership; a style of leadership that demands and domineers and has little if any interest in people.  On the economic front we still see the repercussions of the poor, arguably self-centered leadership that caused the credit crunch, the banking crisis and the global recession. In many countries, like a recurring bad dream, we also repeatedly see somewhat  less than inspiring political leadership. There is a lot that is said and written about Christian leadership too. Much of it is not actually about leadership at all, but is focused on theological, expositional, hermeneutical, worship facilitation and communications skills. It’s also sad to say that Christian leadership today seems frequently to get confused with the modern concept of celebrity.  Where consideration is given to the vital skills of people and organizational leadership, the Christian world so often seems to call upon secular, worldly models, passing over the one role model who should be in focus – Jesus Christ.

Best Quotes from
Jesus Christ Leadership

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“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
“What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul.”
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
“Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.”
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

What is Servant Leadership?

It is the focus on the growth of the individual, that they might flourish and achieve their full potential and not primarily the growth and potential of the organization, that distinguishes servant leadership from other leadership styles. The primary concern of the servant leader is service to their followers.
In the secular business schools it was Robert Greenleaf who, in the early 1970s, proposed the servant leader model. However, the concept of a servant leader is not such a modern concept, but can be found in the biblical account of the life of Jesus Christ. By examining his model we can identify a Christ-centred, Christ-like servant leadership style that works for Christians who lead people in any situation.

Jesus, the Model Servant Leader

Jesus submitted his own life to sacrificial service under the will of God (Luke 22:42), and he sacrificed his life freely out of service for others (John 10:30). He came to serve (Matthew 20:28) although he was God’s son and was thus more powerful than any other leader in the world. He healed the sick (Mark 7:31-37), drove out demons (Mark 5:1-20), was recognized as Teacher and Lord (John 13:13), and had power over the wind and the sea and even over death (Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 9:18-26).
In John 13:1-17 Jesus gives a very practical example of what it means to serve others.  He washes the feet of his followers, which was properly the responsibility of the house-servant. Examination of this passage shows that:

1. Jesus’ basic motivation was love for his followers (v. 1).
2. Jesus was fully aware of his position as leader (v. 14). Before the disciples experienced him as their servant, they had already experienced him many times before as Master, and as a strong and extremely powerful leader.
3. Jesus voluntarily becomes a servant to his followers (v. 5-12). He did not come primarily as their foot washer, but he was ready to do this service for his followers if needed.
4. Jesus wants to set an example for his followers to follow (v. 14-15).

The Servant Leader

From the teaching and example of Jesus Christ we learn that being a servant leader in the most general sense means being:

• A voluntary servant, who submits themselves to a higher purpose, which is beyond their personal interests or the interests of others,
• A leader who uses the power that is entrusted to them to serve others,
• A servant who, out of love, serves others needs before their own,
• A teacher who teaches their followers, in word and deed, how to become servant leaders themselves.

The Christian Servant Leader

Applying these considerations of Jesus as a role model for Christian leaders we can see that, from a Biblical perspective, a servant leader is a person, who is:

• Christ-centered in all aspects of life (a voluntary servant of Christ)
• Committed to serve the needs of others before their own,
• Courageous to lead with power and love as an expression of serving,
• Consistently developing others into servant leaders, and
• Continually inviting feedback from those that they want to serve in order to grow towards the ultimate servant leader, Jesus Christ.

There are some implications worthy of note that arise:

• The servant leader is a “servant in all things” in relationship to God.

This is the Christian servant leader’s higher purpose. He is also a “servant first” in relationship to people.

Jesus Christ came into this world as God’s servant (Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 52:13, Acts 3:26, 4:27). He also came to serve man (Matthew 20:28). However, Christ did not come to be our servant, whereas he came out of obedience to God, serving him.

Christians are called to be God’s servants in every aspect of our lives. From the Bible it’s clear that this means serving fellow man in accordance with the higher purpose of serving God. Note however, that simply serving people is insufficient. It does not necessarily imply that a leader is serving God. It is possible, for instance, to serve people based on an humanistic worldview.

• There is a big difference between serving the needs of others and being a servant of others’ needs.
  • Serving the needs of others is liberating. It implies recognizing their needs (without judging them), and then doing what can be done, in line with the higher purpose of serving God first, to help satisfy that need. Whereas;
  • Being a servant of the needs of others, requires that one must do anything and everything possible to satisfy those needs, whether it is in line with one’s service to God or not.

• The servant leader themselves is a growing leader, led and grown by the Holy Spirit.

• Jesus was the only human being who never abused his power.

For a leader the abuse of power is a major issue and temptation. The keys to avoiding abuse of power are feedback from God and from the followers, along with sharing power. These factors are necessary to help the leader apply power in line with God’s purpose and for the best of the followers. The development and growth of followers into servant leaders inherently requires that the servant leader passes power on to them (sharing power), so that they can also grow in using that power to serve others according to the higher purpose.

• Servant leadership is more about being than about doing.

Without a serving heart it is almost impossible to become a servant leader. There are different ways to grow servant leaders, although Greenleaf (the founder of secular servant leadership) considers that a leader may need a “conversion experience” in order to become a servant leader. In any event, the highest priority should be given to help servant leaders to grow in their service to God. Out of the service to God, true service to others flows more easily.

3D Servant Leaders

There are three dimensions in which Christian servant leaders must grow:

1. As a voluntary servant of God
2. As a servant of others, and
3. As a leader.

If someone is already a committed servant of God and of others, they need to employ their leadership gifts to serve others as a leader with the right use of power and with love. Leadership skills training, continuous encouragement and feedback can support a servant leader in this growth process.
Someone, who is already a leader, but who wants to become a servant leader, also needs training, encouragement and feedback, but they need a conversion towards servanthood much more. This commitment must then be strengthened again and again. It is harder to learn to be a servant than to learn to be a leader, especially for those who have been senior leaders for many years. Old habits die hard.
The servant leader must be “learning servant” who wants to grow both as a leader and as a servant. Therefore, the servant leader invites feedback especially from God – through prayer, Bible reading, and communication with spiritual mentors – and from the people being served. One way to start a feedback process with the people being served is simply is to ask them how the leader can best serve them. Ideally the feedback will be an ongoing process, resulting in the servant leader serving more effectively according to the actual needs of the people.
According to the Bible, to become a servant of God and to enjoy serving others is not only a decision that a person needs to take, it is first a gracious gift from God. More than this, because of our new nature, as Christian leaders we should find ourselves readily drawn to the Christ-centred servant leadership model. It is the “leadership style” of our role model, Jesus Christ, and as we see throughout the Bible, serving God inherently includes serving others in line with his good plans and purposes.

Reflection

How do you compare to the leadership role model of Jesus? Are you drawn to the higher purpose of serving God? Are you focused on your people, those who follow you (remember leaders have followers) achieving their full potential for the Kingdom?  It requires a conscious decision to become a servant of a higher purpose and of others.
It may be that you have never looked at Jesus as a leadership role model. To discover more work through the references given in Thorsten’s article. 
An interesting exercise is to read through Mark’s Gospel and look to see how Jesus led and developed that disparate collection of men who became his disciples and to whom he entrusted his Church.
Remember, this Christ-centred servant leadership model is not just for Church leaders but Christian leaders in Kingdom enterprises and secular organisations too.

Growing the Servant Heart

"Growing the Servant Heart" is a free white paper that examines the nature and role of  Christ-centred servant leadership in Kingdom enterprises.
An enterprise is an organisation specifically structured to deliver some specific good or service. Kingdom enterprises are those that have Christian objectives and which are led and staffed by Christians. Often they may be para-church organisations but a church may also be called to a specific ministry, which in itself is effectively an enterprise. A Kingdom enterprise requires a distinctively Christ-centred leadership style, following the example of the Servant King.